This invention relates to personal body armor for protecting the human body from projectiles and from blast superheat, shrapnel, debris and molten metal spall from an explosive device. In this application, “garment” means an article of protective clothing that covers the entire length of the arm from wrist to shoulder in a continuous fashion, or, that covers the entire length of the leg from ankle to hip in a continuous fashion.
US Armed Forces service men and women are currently protected by the US Army Interceptor Outer Tactical Vest (OTV), which uses 28-30 layers of KEVLAR® ballistic fabric to protect against small arms fire and fragmentation. Optionally, front and back rigid armor inserts (Small Arms Protective Insert, SAPI) can be used to protect vital organs inside the chest from high velocity armor piercing bullets. The rigid armor SAPI plates are commonly made of thick ceramic (0.8-1 inches), hardened steel, or high-strength titanium alloy. The rigid plates cause the bullet to fragment, while the underlying ballistic fabric catches the fragments of bullet and ceramic pieces.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, US service members traveling in convoys are frequently attacked by Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG's) and roadside Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's). Although they often live though the explosion because they are wearing the body armor vests, their exposed, unprotected arms are often severely mangled and must be amputated, usually above the elbow. In particular, service gunners manning the .50 caliber machine guns in the open-air cupolas of armored HUMVEE's and Bradley Fighting Vehicles are exposed to the blast effects of RPG's and IED's. Also, the drivers and passengers of trucks with the windows rolled down have exposed, vulnerable arms. The leg is also vulnerable if the truck doors are not armored.
When a RPG impacts the side of an armored vehicle, the explosion creates four main types of threat: (1) blast overpressure (i.e., shock wave), (2) blast superheated air and gases, (3) shrapnel, fragments, and debris from the device's casing, and (4) a spray of molten drops of liquid metal (spall) from the vehicle's steel. An armored protective arm or leg garment is needed to shield an exposed limb (arm or leg) against all four of these threats. However, it can't be too heavy or too rigid, because the gunner in a cupola must be able to move around and operate the machine gun without undue interference. If possible, an armored garment would weigh less than 10 pounds, and preferably closer to 5-6 pounds, to reduce fatigue on the arm muscles. Also, the gunner should be able to quickly remove the garment in an emergency, e.g., in less than 10 seconds. Additionally, soldiers who are on foot can be maimed or killed by roadside IED's; and would benefit from wearing armored arm or leg garments, in combination with an Interceptor armored body vest. An armored garment should also provide some level of protection against small arms fire and sniper rounds. Typically, the garment would be worn in combination with an Interceptor OTV body armor vest, preferably with rigid armor chest plate inserts.
Historically, armored sleeves for protecting the arm were used by Roman gladiators over 2000 years ago. The arm protection, also known as a “manica”, consisted of overlapping horizontal bands of leather or curved sheet metal, held together by straps or rivets (see FIG. 1). Other types of ancient armor include chain mail, and one-piece sheet metal plates that covered from the upper arm, and another that covered the forearm. However, none of these ancient designs can withstand sniper bullets or the blast, heat, shrapnel and spall from modern-day explosive devices. It is only the relatively recent development of ballistic-resistant fabrics made of high-strength, synthetic fibers (glass, carbon/graphite, KEVLAR®, SPECTRA®, etc.), combined with advanced ceramic armor plates, that allows modern-day body armor vests and bomb disposal suits to successfully defeat these threats.
Bomb disposal suits do not currently employ rigid armor inserts in the arms because of the extra weight and reduced mobility. A typical suit already weighs 80-90 pounds, and the thick ceramic plates would add another 15-20 pounds to an already-overloaded person.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,813 to Tolliver et al. discloses a ballistic-resistant upper arm shoulder pad (epaulet) made of 30 layers of an aramid fiber (e.g., KEVLAR®) ballistic cloth, that covers the shoulder and upper arm. U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,314 to Lewis discloses a similar type of protective deltoid pad. However, neither patent teaches any type of protection for the elbow, lower arm, hand, or leg.
Armored protective pant legs or leg chaps are also needed to protect the legs against the same types of threats as described above.
Against this background, the present invention was developed.